What does one say when their childhood dream becomes reality? For UNM outfielder Chase Harris, there wasn’t much to talk about after being selected in the 14th round by the Philadelphia Phillies in the MLB draft on Saturday.
At times this season, the New Mexico baseball team had the poise and mental fortitude of a former league champion. In other instances, though, UNM displayed the immaturity and mental lapses of a young team trying to hold its place atop the Mountain West, leading to an uneven season for the Lobos.
The New Mexico baseball team finished atop the regular season standings for the third year in a row, but unlike the previous seasons, the Lobos won’t be the No. 1 seed at the Mountain West tournament. That distinction belongs to the host team UNLV, who tied UNM for first place in the MW thus becoming co-champions.
It didn’t look like Drew Bridges was making his first start in almost two months. In fact, Bridges was the team’s most effective pitcher on Sunday. Thanks to Bridges’ 4.1 shutout innings of work, UNM routed San Diego State 13-5 to stay tied atop the Mountain West standings with UNLV.
Getting to the top is hard, staying there is even harder. That’s what the New Mexico baseball team found out last weekend after getting swept by Mountain West rival UNLV. With the sweep, the Rebels are now tied atop the conference standings with the Lobos.
Last season, the UNM baseball team seemed set to make its first run to the College World Series. After a second consecutive Mountain West regular season title and an overall record of 37-22, the Lobos were in contention to host an NCAA Regional.
The New Mexico baseball team earned its ninth-straight victory with a 4-3 decision over Texas Tech on Monday at Lobo Field. Left fielder John Pustay had the game-winning hit, a double that went off the second basemen’s glove, to score pinch runner Kirby McGuire from first base.
Head coach Ray Birmingham thought it was necessary to pump up starting pitcher Josh Walker before Sunday’s series finale against San Jose State at Lobo Field.
Improvement takes time with a young team. Developing through the growing pains has been a focal point for the New Mexico baseball team thus far this season. Following an 8-5 loss to Arizona State University (8-6), head coach Ray Birmingham said that his team has been taking strides in terms of development
Timely hitting evaded the New Mexico baseball team against UNLV during Sunday’s 5-4 victory that took 12 innings to complete.
Prior to the beginning of the season, the New Mexico baseball team was selected by Mountain West coaches as the team to beat in the conference along with San Diego State.
Building baseball programs from the ground up is nothing new to Ray Birmingham. After all, he’s been doing it for most of his adult life. Birmingham has built four programs throughout the Land of Enchantment during his 27 year career: Mayfield High School, College of the Southwest, New Mexico Junior College and now UNM.
For the second consecutive week, the New Mexico baseball team faced the possibility of not completing a game due to time constraints. Fortunately, that scenario did not come into play as the Lobos dominated Northern Colorado 8-1 to complete the four-game sweep of the Bears on Sunday at Lobo Field.
Typically, offense has carried the New Mexico baseball team. Through two weeks of the 2014 season, the Lobos’ pitching staff has changed that narrative.
Thanks to a complete game shutout by Preseason All American pitcher Josh Walker, UNM defeated Missouri State 7-0 in the first game of the double-header on Sunday at Lobo Field. Walker gave up just five hits and struck out three batters. The next game versus Northern Illinois ended in a 3-3 tie after 10 innings because the Huskies had to catch their flight home. It was the first tie for UNM since Feb. 22, 2004 against Northwestern.
It will be a homecoming of sorts for the New Mexico baseball team on Friday. UNM will host the Lobo Invite at Lobo Field this weekend, which will mark the first time the venue will hold a home opener since the 2003 season.
It is definitely a start of a new era in New Mexico baseball. Gone are the likes of first baseman DJ Peterson, catcher Mitch Garver, outfielders Luke Campbell and Josh Melendez and starting pitcher Sam Wolff, all of whom signed with major league teams this past offseason.
Head coach Ray Birmingham does not have many worries about this year’s New Mexico baseball team. One of them, however, is that UNM is lacking experience across the board with the loss of five positional players and six pitchers. Seven of those players were taken in the 2013 MLB Draft.
On paper, this might have been the best season in New Mexico baseball history. The Lobos earned their highest national ranking in team history
There was never any doubt that the New Mexico baseball team had talent. The 2013 MLB draft emphasized that fact with seven Lobos drafted over the course of three days, setting a new record for UNM players drafted in a single year.
Solutions by The State News
